Forum to discuss police mistreatment of LGBT community

Three years ago, Amnesty International USA documented what it said was the unacceptable risk of abuse or mistreatment facing gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual individuals in encounters with Chicago police.

Tonight the organization, along with a long list of community organizations, will host a forum to highlight continuing efforts to combat such mistreatment and hold police accountable.

The 7 p.m. event at Broadway United Methodist Church in Lakeview, is meant to organize community groups and volunteers to continue the efforts begun with Amnesty International's 2005 "Stonewalled" report, which concluded that gay and transgendered individuals in Chicago were at risk of gender-based mistreatment ranging from verbal to sexual and physical abuse, in encounters with police.

Tonight's forum, "Beyond Stonewalled," will include presentations by activist lawyer and adjunct
professor of Law at DePaul University Joey L. Mogul, and Patricia Hill, executive
director of the African American Patrolmen's League.

It will also feature the stories of individuals who claim to have suffered mistreatment or abuse at the hands of Chicago-area police officers.

The forum will also include a discussion of how to improve police accountability.